It was a fairly average Monday morning when Donghyuck's mother dropped Donghyuck, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung off at their school. The four boys thanked Donghyuck's mother before climbing out of the car and walking into the school. 

"Ugh, I still can't believe Monique got eliminated last week," Jaemin complained, grabbing some books from his locker. 

"I know! I thought she'd make it to top five," Chenle responded, leaning against another locker. 

"Guys, this is season ten of Rupaul's Drag Race. If you don't know the words to the lipsync, you're going home," Jisung spoke. He was right; and the other three boys could only sigh in agreement. 

Although the four boys were only freshmen, they walked down the halls as if they owned Morrisville High School (no one but them thought they did). They next made their way to Donghyuck's locker, completing their daily morning routine of picking up their books, talking about Rupaul's Drag Race, and scouting out their classmates. 

"I'm glad Aquaria won the episode though. She deserved it," Donghyuck commented. 

"Agreed," Jisung mumbled back, looking down at his phone. 

"We all know you worship the ground Aquaria walks on, Jisung," Jaemin responded. 

"But Jisung's trying to be a drag queen like Aquaria," Chenle retorted. 

"It's true," Jisung responded in his soft spoken manner. 

"I can't believe Asia O'hara impersonated Beyonce on the snatch game though. Everyone knows it's a bad choice," Chenle loudly spoke. 

"I know right? What the actual mama," Jaemin said. A group of football players suddenly walked by the foursome, one of them mumbling 'faggots' under his breath. They all just returned his comment with glares, their eyes following the upperclassmen until they were out of sight. 

"We were literally doing nothing," Jisung growled under his breath. 

"It's 2018, . You should be able to be whoever you want to be," Donghyuck said, and the boys firmly agreed. 

Just then, another group of upperclassmen passed by, carrying books and talking amongst themselves with hunched shoulders. 

"Ah, the bitter old lady brigade," Chenle commented as they passed by. In their few months of being in high school, as a group they'd spotted and named every clique within it. 

"The bitterest, saltiest, nerdiest group of kids in the entire school, unworthy of a date due to their bitterness. And saltiness. And nerdiness," Jaemin added. 

"Come on, Mark's kinda cute," Donghyuck whined, giving Mark (one of the members of the bitter old lady brigade, along with Taeil, Doyoung, Kun, and Yuta) a passing glance before he disappeared in the hallway. 

"Mark? He is so bland. There is no way I would date one of them, they're all boring. If I had to pick one of them, I'd have to go with Yuta," Jaemin responded. 

"Yuta?" Chenle cried with disgust.

"But he's so greasy," Jisung added softly. 

Their conversation was interrupted by a sophomore and a junior approaching the boys. 

"Hello, would you like to learn about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ?" The sophomore asked with a gentle smile. 

"Sorry Jungwoo, the only gods I worship are Katya and Trixie Mattel. But thank you for the offer!" Donghyuck responded. With disappointed frowns, Jungwoo and the junior left the boys alone. 

"And there goes the children of jesus. So hot, but so religious," Jaemin spoke as the two boys walked away. The children of jesus, as the four freshmen had named them, were the most active members of their school's Christian club. It was annoying when the two boys, named Sicheng and Jungwoo, tried to get them to join their religion, but nobody told them off because they were hot. 

"Look! Our dad!" Chenle spoke excitedly, pointing as their favorite upperclassman, Ten, passed by them in the hall. The four boys excitedly waved to him, and he gave them a soft smile and waved back. 

Ten was known as the gay kid of their high school. One of the first kids in their entire town to come out, he was also a prominent member of the dance team. Jaemin, Donghyuck, Chenle, and Jisung practically worshiped the ground he walked on, calling him their gay dad. Although Ten could be fairly quiet, he ate the attention up. 

"Ten is so nice. He's literally the king of our school," Jaemin spoke as Donghyuck finally shut his locker. The four boys started walking in the direction of their classes, passing by the multitudes of kids at their school. 

"We have all these names for the different cliques at our school. I wonder what people call us?" Chenle asked. 

"I've heard we're known as the gay freshmen," Jaemin responded. 

"Huh. I actually kinda like that," Donghyuck said. Suddenly, the bell for class rung, and the four boys waved goodbye. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why are the popular kids at our school so ing entitled?" Taeil spoke, slamming his lunch tray down on the table. Doyoung, Mark, Kun, and Yuta just looked at him expectantly; for their group, lunch time was dedicated to ing about the most annoying kids at their high school. 

"What happened?" Yuta asked, and Taeil couldn't hold back a groan and an eye roll. 

"Today in class, Taeyong walked in thirty minutes late, reeking of cigarettes and pot. And the teacher said nothing, and all the girls started drooling at him. Like...ew?" Taeil spoke. "And Johnny....god, Johnny was even worse, he's my least favorite out of all the damn 'popular' kids," he said, emphasizing his words with making quotation marks with his hands around the word 'popular'. "He kept throwing paper airplanes at everyone, and cracking jokes every time there was a pause in the lecture. And the ing teacher had the audacity to laugh!" 

"I know what you mean. I have Yukhei in one of my classes...he will never shut up. Ever," Mark added, and Kun couldn't stop himself from cracking up. 

"Why are you laughing?" Taeil asked Kun angrily. 

"You guys are so upset with these kids who don't even know you exist! It's honestly really funny. Why do you guys care so much?" Kun asked.

"It's just annoying, okay?" Mark whined. "They're really annoying."

"Get this guys," Doyoung chimed in. "Today, Jaehyun got a 96% on his test. I only got a 95%, and this boy had the audacity to say that I did a good job. Like, way to get under my skin. What a manipulative guy." 

The others turned to Doyoung, giving him judgemental looks. 

"Okay, I know our greatest past time is talking about the popular kids....but Jaehyun's actually really nice," Mark said. 

"Yeah, he's always so sweet to you in choir and stuff. Plus, doesn't he always include you in all the student council stuff? Now, I know you're still salty about losing to him in the presidential race for junior class student council elections--" Taeil started. 

"I am not salty about losing to him in the elections! Vice president is a very prestigious role," Doyoung responded. "But you guys should know that Jaehyun and I have been rivals since preschool. That's how it's been, that's how it will always be. He's just a manipulative who likes to try and get under my skin to make me lose things." 

"Have you ever considered that he's just genuinely being nice to you?" Mark asked. 

"Absolutely not," Doyoung responded. "That's impossible."

His friends just shared a frustrated look. 

"This conversation is entirely pointless, because none of these guys are remotely annoying compared to that obnoxious little punk Lee Donghyuck. I don't know how the hell he managed to make it into my sophomore english class. He just never shuts up about anything! I don't understand why he feels the need to act like...that. It's embarrassing for everyone," Mark complained

Kun sighed. "You guys are so fixated on people that have no idea you exist. It's such a waste of time! The only halfway intelligent and sane person here is Yuta," Kun spoke. 

Just then, their conversation was interrupted by Jungwoo and Sicheng approaching them. 

"Would you like to learn about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ?" Sicheng asked the group. 

"Not now guys, I told you my friends don't care. I'll talk to you guys in Christian club," Mark whined. 

"Fine," Sicheng said sadly, and he and Jungwoo began to walk away. 

"Wait!" Yuta called to them, and they turned back around to face him with surprised looks. Yuta sauntered over Sicheng, putting on a horrifying smirk, and Taeil physically cringed at the sight. 

"Okay, fine, I'll read the bible," Yuta spoke to Sicheng, throwing him a greasy wink. "If you let me take you out on a date." 

Sicheng's face began to turn a worrying shade of read and he began to release choked out pieces of words, unable to come up with any sort of response. 

"Yuta, that's not a fair offer," Doyoung teased Yuta. "You can't even read." 

Immediately, Mark, Kun, and Taeil started cracking up. Even Sicheng and Jungwoo had to hide their smiles of mirth. Yuta used every ounce of strength to shoot Doyoung an angry pout. 

"I can too read!" Yuta whined, stomping back over to their lunch table as the other boys chuckled at him. "You're lucky I put up with your , Doyoung. I'm only here because we've been friends since elementary school, and I'm the only one who puts up with your BS about Jaehyun."

"And I'm the only one who puts up with your BS in general," Doyoung responded. 

"Oh! You just got burned!" Mark said to Yuta. 

"Shut up," Yuta spoke, and Mark fell silent. 

"I think I need some new friends," Kun muttered under his breath, and no one could protest. Kun most definitely deserved better. 

~~~~~~~~~~

After school, Renjun and Jeno were walking around the park just a few blocks away from our school. Hand in hand, they circled the pavement, walking through the trees and soft grass. Jeno couldn't think of a better date he could possibly be on. 

"I'm so glad you're my boyfriend," Renjun mused, voicing aloud Jeno's thoughts. Jeno blushed softly and smiled at the ground. 

"Th-thanks," he stuttered nervously. They had been together for a while at that point (six months, which Jeno couldn't believe), it was still his first relationship, so sometimes he got a bit shy. "Me too," Jeno eventually responded, not wanting Renjun to think he didn't feel the same. 

They fell back into comfortable silence, still walking through the park. Renjun was a quiet guy, so usually they didn't talk much on their dates, but Jeno still found comfort in it. After all, they'd managed to stay together since the end of eighth grade, which was a feat in itself. 

"How are you liking high school?" Renjun asked in his soft voice. 

"It's weird being a freshman," Jeno admitted with a chuckle. 

"Yeah, it is," Renjun quietly responded. 

"Middle schoolers could be kind of mean though. I feel like people are a little more mature now," Jeno responded. 

Renjun scoffed. "Except for some of the kids in our classes. Do you know those guys? The super loud ones? Like...I think one of their names is Donghyuck. I mean....we're gay, but not like that kind of gay, you know? They don't have to be so...out there."

Jeno glared at his boyfriend. "I don't think that's nice to say....I mean we all have to stick together, you know? All of us gay people. They've never been mean to anyone and they don't disrupt class." 

"What, do you like one of them?" Renjun teased. 

"No way!" Jeno cried. "I don't even think I know their names." 

Renjun frowned and looked away, and the boys kept on walking in silence. Suddenly, Jeno sighed. 

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," Jeno spoke. 

"It's okay...I still think they're annoying, but I guess I see your point," Renjun responded. 

"Can I hug you?" Jeno asked. Renjun nodded and smiled, and the two of them turned to each other to share a deep hug. Jeno left Renjun with a soft peck on his cheek, and Renjun blushed hard. They pulled away, and Jeno was happy to see that Renjun couldn't stop smiling. 

They kept on walking through the park, Jeno swinging their hands a little bit to leave Renjun softly giggling. 

"You're very special to me," Jeno shyly admitted. Jeno watched as Renjun's face lit up in a smile, and Jeno couldn't help but smile back. 

"You are too," Renjun responded. "I-I think we'll be together for a long time, you know? A really long time....maybe even forever." 

A pit of....Jeno wasn't sure what burned into the pit of his stomach. Yeah, he liked Renjun, and maybe he even loved him. But forever? That was a crazy thing to think about, especially for a fourteen year old. But Jeno didn't want to disappoint Renjun; he didn't like seeing him upset at all. 

"Y-yeah..." Jeno lied back, hiding his unsure expression from his boyfriend. But Renjun didn't seem to quite notice, squeezing his hand and walking on. 

~~~~~~~~~~

It was a fairly average Tuesday evening for the most popular boys of Morrisville High School. Chilling in Johnny's basement, the ty spare TV from the 1990's was to baseball, as per usual. Each of them peered down at their own phones, minding their own business as the TV blared in the background. The three boys relaxed on the chewed up old couch, their long limbs spread around and entangled with each other's. But since they'd all been friends for so long, none of them minded.

"Ugh, these random girls won't stop sending me nudes!" Yukhei complained. 

"Shut the up Yukhei, your humble bragging is nasty," Taeyong responded in his scratchy voice. 

"Anyways, aren't you a sophomore? Why the hell are you getting nudes?" Johnny asked. 

Yukhei shrugged. "Because I'm the hottest guy in the sophomore class," he responded. 

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door to the basement, and the three boys all looked up at the doorway. 

"Come in," Johnny spoke, and Jaehyun pushed open the door and walked down the stairs to where the other guys were sitting. 

"What's up guys?" Jaehyun asked, squeezing in between Yukhei's calves and Johnny's thighs. 

"The usual," Taeyong simply responded. 

"Where were you?" Yukhei asked. 

"Choir," Jaehyun responded. 

"Good GPA, choir, student council...I don't understand why you bother with all of that bs," Taeyong said. 

"I mean, you and Johnny are seniors, I understand why you guys don't really care about school any more," Jaehyun responded. 

"Hey, I used to be on the baseball team!" Johnny protested. 

"True, true. And you were captain last year. I just do it for college applications. Taeyong, you're not going to have anything to put," Jaehyun spoke. 

"I think Taeyong doesn't give a single about college applications," Yukhei responded. 

"He's right," Taeyong mumbled. "And the college apps thing is bull Jaehyun. We all know you do it to see more of Doyoung." 

"Kim Doyoung, the love of Jaehyun's life," Yukhei teased. 

"Shut up," Jaehyun whined, but he couldn't stop smiling. 

"When are you going to man up and ask him out? He's so ing far out of your league," Johnny said. 

"Stop it guys," Jaehyun whined again, pointedly staring at his phone. 

"I think I'm going to go out for a smoke," Taeyong spoke, tucking a joint behind one ear and a cigarette behind the other. He looked visibly uncomfortable, but none of the others seemed to notice. 

"But Taeyongie, drugs are bad for you! Just say no!" Yukhei teased. 

"This is your brain," Jaehyun spoke, pointing to his own head. "This is your brain on drugs," he said, pointing to Yukhei's head. 

"You guys are dumb," Taeyong mumbled under his breath, testing his lighter to see if it worked before starting to walk up the stairs. 

"Wait," Johnny suddenly spoke, surprisingly seriously. The others looked with him in concern, but his whole focus seemed to be on the TV. Taeyong walked back down the stairs and sat down on the couch, watching the TV. 

The channel had switched from baseball to what seemed to be an emergency new broadcasting from their local channel, with panicked looking newscasters gracing the small, fuzzy screen.

"The recent explosion of the power plant just two miles south from the town of Morrisville has had a strange effect on the adolescents of the area. Many claim that they are suddenly able to sense their so called 'soulmates'. Reports have this began at about five o'clock this evening, and have continued for the past few hours. It has been described as a extreme sense of attraction and love for a person. From the information reported, it seems it could be anyone, even someone you've never even spoken to. Let's go to Kelly and see what this is all about," the newscaster said, the screen switching to a street outside of their high school. In the frame was the female newscaster, standing next to two kids from their school. They were two random scene kids in Yukhei's grade, and Yukhei grimaced at the sight of them. 

"We weren't even dating before this. We were just kinda friends, like, acquaintances and stuff, but nothing more. But then when I saw her today I just knew I was in love," the boy said.

"Yeah, like, whenever we hold hands, it's like there's electricity between us. And, like, I just never wanna be without him ever again," the girl added. The screen switched back to the first newscaster.

"A serious issue or just teens being teens? As always, we'll keep you updated on this issue, here on the seven o'clock nightly news." The newscaster continued to speak but his voice faded completely from the boy's minds, replaced by panic. What the hell was going on? Who was going to be their supposed soulmates? Weren't they way too young to find them? What the hell, again? 

The other boys turned to look at each other, saying nothing. 

Finally, Johnny spoke. "First of all, we are absolutely ed."